New York Giants wide receiver Rueben Randle runs with the ball during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. Photo Credit: Brad Penner

A year after he tried to verbally nudge Beckham, then a rookie with a hamstring injury, back onto the practice fields of training camp, he did the same for Randle, who has been sidelined for more than a week with tendinitis in his right knee. Randle did play three snaps in the preseason game against the Bengals, but Coughlin said he "wasn't himself" and noted that he did not have a good warm-up for that contest.

That was Friday, when Coughlin was in a more understanding frame of mind. Now he is itching for Randle to get back out there.

"He's been out a while," Coughlin said. "He needs to practice. That's the one thing I'm anxious about. Everybody wants to talk about our passing game. Unless we get out there and practice together, what passing game? So that's something that has to be considered. We have to work together on the field to get to where we're going."

Surprising comments considering how available other receivers such as Beckham and Victor Cruz have been. Beckham has not missed a workout and Cruz, coming off a torn patellar tendon, is scheduled to miss his first of the summer Wednesday due to a calf strain. Coughlin said it has no relationship to his knee and was most likely caused by dehydration.